"Hoping for a miracle," she replied.
The phone on her desk suddenly began to ring and Malick sat down at his desk as she answered.
Malick saw Sarah's eyes widen and then she started writing something down frantically.
"Okay, I'll scramble the team!" Sarah said and then slammed the phone down. Malick rose in sync with Sarah.
"What is it?"
"The miracle," Sarah answered as they left the office. "They finally broke his code, but it says there will be a murder tonight!"
"What? Is that all we know?" Malick sounded hopeless but Sarah wasn’t willing to join him.
"This is more information than we had about the others," she pointed out. He pursed his lips and nodded conceding the point.
"What's the plan?" he asked.
"Police patrols in the three State's, and calls to possible victims." It wasn't much but it was something. Luck might be on their side for once.
The next half hour was spent in a frantic rush of phone calls and radio conversations coordinating the search. Sarah and Malick went to her car and drove towards rural Virginia, wanting to be part of the work in progress. Neither of them were very good and sitting and waiting for news.
The men who were felt to be at risk were called, but it was going to take a long time to get to them all. The only criteria they had to go on was recent census figures of those farmers who declared themselves as single. That didn’t necessarily mean they lived alone, but it was the only list they had available.
As Sarah and Malick drove around, Malick asked,
“What did the message say anyway?”
“It was today’s date spelled out in French, but it used the European way, as in day, month, year, not the month, day the way we use.”
“That doesn’t seem all that complicated,” Malick said,
“No, they should have figured it out a lot sooner than this,” Sarah agreed. This had annoyed her already when she thought about it and it felt bad to know the ‘expert’ teams behind her work were not up to scratch. Malick must have been able to sense her anger as he didn’t say anything more for a time.
They drove, radio reports came in of people being questioned, the number of calls that turned out to be men living with partners and such. Though there was a flurry of activity- enough that some of the media were sure to get wind of it- not all that much of substance was actually happening. Sarah wondered what might happen. Would the ‘Agrarian’ actually kill on the night he said he would? For all he knew they had cracked his code many days ago. Surely he would have expected that.
Was he still going to kill tonight? Was he hoping to get caught and brought in? Would he kill in a new State or change rural to town areas of the States he was already active in? So many questions swirled about in her head but most ended in the same way- she didn’t think the killer was going to be in custody before the night was out.
A crackling report came in over the radio. Ten men deemed at risk had not answered their phones and local units were being scrambled to those addresses. Sarah waited- and she knew it would be a long wait, at least it would feel long- while the cars en route checked in one by one.
Half an hour later, seven men were accounted for. The last three had yet to arrive at their destinations.
“Come on guys,” Malick said, his hands jittering on his lap in anticipation. “Put a foot on the gas!”
Another report came in. The house and farm seemed abandoned. Doors all closed, no lights on. The officer circled the property shining a flashlight through all the ground floor windows and could find nothing. Sarah wasn’t sure there was nothing but they had no right to break into a home without cause.
Then the dreaded call came in.
“Unit 17, Rural Route 9, body of male, mid-thirties found. Multiple stab wounds and amputation of limbs. Forensics team requested,” came the lifeless voice of the dispatcher over the radio.
“Nothing is to be touched until I get there!” Sarah bellowed over the radio. “Have the officers go outside and preserve the scene until I arrive.”
While she’d been talking Malick was putting the address into the car's computer to get directions.
“We should be there in about an hour,” he said as Sarah pressed down on the accelerator. “Or maybe forty-five minutes,” he amended, checking that his seatbelt was securely fastened.
Each car they passed on their way Sarah peered out at the driver, trying to take a snapshot of their faces. Would she see the killer escaping? Would she know him if she did? Roadblocks had been set for many miles around but at the moment she didn’t know how long the victim had been dead. It could have been up to twenty hours ago and still be the same date it was now. She only hoped she could get there before the press.
Thinking this brought Tyler to mind. He was someone who definitely wasn’t going to be there when she arrived. He was out of State or somewhere meeting the number one suspect in another series of murders.
Sarah’s anger boiled and she willed the car to go faster. This had to be the last murder this guy got away with. She had to bring him in.
Chapter 26
BY THE TIME TYLER GOT home with Carson Lemond in tow, he’d heard all about the fourth victim of the ‘Agrarian.’ News reports were sketchy but being in the
